188.5.J 321 [Brinton. 



plicit grammar, where they are wholly or in part left to be 

 understood by the mind. 



He expressly and repeatedly states that an intelligent thinker, 

 ti'ained in the grammatical distinctions of a higher language, 

 can express any thought he has in the grammar of any other 

 tongue which he masters, no matter how rude it is. This adap- 

 tability lies in the nature of speech in general. A language is 

 an instrument, the use of which depends entirely on the skill of 

 him who handles it. It is doubtful whether such imported forms 

 and thoughts appeal in any direct sense to those who are 

 native to the tongue. But the fact remains that the forms of the 

 most barbarous languages are such that they may be developed 

 to admit the expression of any kind of idea. 



But the meaning of this must not be misconstrued. If lan- 

 guages were merely dead instruments which we use to work 

 with, then one would be as good as another to him who had 

 learned it. But this is not the case. Speech is a living, phj-sio- 

 logical function, and, like any other function, is most invigorating 

 and vitalizing when it works in the utmost harmony with the 

 other functions. Its special relationship is to that brain-action 

 which we call thinking ; and entire harmony between the two is 

 only present when the form, structure and sounds of speech cor- 

 respond accurately to the logical procedure of thought. This 

 he considered " an undeniable fact." 



The measure of the excellence of a language, therefore, is the 

 clearness, deQniteness and energy of the ideas which it awakes 

 in the nation. Does it inspire and incite their mind ? Has it 

 positive and clear tones, and do these define sharply the ideas 

 they represent, without needless accessories ? Does its structure 

 present the leading elements of the proposition in their sim- 

 plicity, and permit the secondary elements to be grouped around 

 them in subordinate positions, with a correct sense of linguistic 

 perspective ? The answers to these queries decide its position 

 in the hierarchy of tongues.* 



* "Nicht was in einer Sprache ausgedrtlckt zu werden vermag, sondern das, 

 ■wozu sle aus eigner, innerer Kraft anfeuert uiid begeistert, entscheidet Uber 

 itire Voi'zUge Oder Miingsl." Ueber das Entstehen der Orarnmalinchen Formen, 

 etc, TJ'erAre, Bd. iii, s. 272. Compare with this the expression in his celebrated 

 Einleitung: "Die Sprache 1st das bildende Organ des Gedanken," Werke, Hd. 

 vi, s. 51. A perfected language will "allseitig und harmoni.sch durch sich 

 selbst auf den Geist einwirken." Ibid, s. 311, 



PROC. AMER. PHILOS. SOC. XXII. 120. 2o. PRINTED MAY 22, 1885. 



